Air pollution is killing us by taking away seven years from life
The finding is very serious: air pollution is decreasing Bangladeshis’ life expectancy by nearly seven years.
No, this shocking figure was not found in a study conducted in Bangladesh.
The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) revealed that people in Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 levels were 74 micrograms per cubic meter, would gain 6.8 years of life if this were brought to WHO guidelines of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.
The study stated that, in the world, South Asia is the most polluted region and Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are, in order, the top four most polluted countries in terms of annualised, population-weighted averages of fine particulate matter.
Hitherto we knew that air pollution coupled with noise and water pollution is wreaking havoc on public health and now we have to swallow the bitter truth that nearly seven long years are being taken away by the air that we breathe every day.
Presently the country is going through the rainy season with rains coming down often all over the country.
Even at this time, the air quality is reported to be of moderate category.
People in Bangladesh are in general not health conscious and few here bother that their mindless act can spell health disaster for others.
Though smoking is banned in public places, let alone the common people, even one can spot a member of the law enforcing agencies puffing away cigarette smoke in the air.
The construction sites do not take any precautionary measures against the dust they are releasing in the air in a mindless way.
The overseeing authorities such as city corporations and municipalities give a blind eye to this trend despite knowing that construction sites are harming the environment and they are there to stop them from doing that.
However, it is not just because of dust air is polluted, EPIC’s annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report revealed that fine particulate air pollution that comes from vehicle and industrial emissions, wildfires and other sources remains the “greatest external threat to public health.”
Therefore, the moderate air quality of the rainy season in Bangladesh does not mean much to us in terms of health safety as vehicle and industrial emissions are occurring here round the year.
Therefore, there is hope of improvement, only when we take the air pollution problem very seriously and take up the right kinds of measures.
If we react to our environment like dumb animals, we will also have to perish like them.
